Safety highway approach to railway crossings



Jan. 29, 1924. 1,482,181

W. H. BANKS SAFETY HIGHWAY APPROACH TO RAILWAY CROSSINGS Filed Nov. 15. 1922 INVEN'.

haw. m @W 41% Patented Jan. 29, 1924.

E. BANKS OF WINTHBOP, HASSACHUSETTSP SAFETY HIGHWAY APPROACH TO RAILWAY CROSSINGS.

Applldatlon filed November 15, 1922. Serial No. 601,172.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, H. Banks,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Winthrop, county of Suffolk, State of assachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement. in Safety Highwa Approaches to Railway Crossings, of whic the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

It is well known that many of the accidents to automobilists at railway cross.

ings is due to the fact thatthe driver of the car fails to slow down rolperly as he approaches he crossing, an t at he-discovers the danger from an approaching train too late to stop before driving onto the tracks in front of the train. f the driver is compelled to come down to relatively slow speed at some distance before he reaches the railroad, he will then have suflicient time to come to a dead stop if he discovers the danger from an approach-" ing train,

even only a short distance before he reaches the track. The object of the present invention is to provide such a construction in the a proach to the railroad that the driver wi be forced to check his speed in some degree, *at least, at some dista'n'ce before he reaches the railroad, if he has been driving fast, so that he will thereby have his car under such control (that he can come to a dead stop after reaching the safety device before actually reaching the tracks. 7

The invention will be fully understood from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of this specification.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view of a rtion of a railroad and of a highway crossing the tracks, provided with a safety approach .in the highway on each slde of the railroad.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of F1 1.

Referring now to the drawings, 1-1 represent two parallel railroad tracks, 2 the travel, portion of a highway, and 3 the crossing for the highway over the tracks.

In the middle of the highway a short dlstance back from'the railroad crossing, there easily come suitable construction but is preferably made of cement or stone. ,The road is widened out and branches to pass around each side.

Preferably the two side walls are extended to form diverging ends toward the crossing/these diverging portions-bung curved outwardly so as to avoid any angular corners.

At the entrance end, that is at the end farther away'- from the railroad crossing before the road branches, the said side walls will be extended backward, diverging backwardly on the curve, 'as shown at 8-8, so as to avoid sharp angles in the driveway at that end. It will thus be seen that there is a sinuous approach to the. crossing, so that if a person is driving fast before reaching the point where the roadbranches, he will practically be forced to check his speed if he is driving at high speed or at least it will be a caution to him that he should check his speed.

Preferaby the circular guard 4 should be of suflicient diameter so that the vehicle will have to make a very substantial turn ortions 7-7 at the out of a straight course to go around it.

Preferably the guard is of suflicient height so that it will be impossible for a vehicle to drive over it.

Preferably the center guard 4 and outside guards 66 as well as the end extensions thereof have a sloping o'r beveled face 9 so as to furnish a little more clearance for the wheels and less danger of accident if the car drives close to the guard.

If a person is driving a vehicle at great speed, as he approaches the railway crossing, he will be obllged'to slow down as he enters the circle, and thus bring his car to a slow enough speed, so that if, after he enters the circle, he sees an approaching train near the crossing, he will have am le time to bring his car to a. full stop be ore reaching the railroad tracks. If he finds that he cannot to a full stop, he can easily swing around the circle to the other side of the center guard 4, and head away from the railroad, and will then easily be able to come to a stop before he makes the complete circle,

--drive across the track when the train has passed.

Preferably there are removable sections 10, 11 to the wall of the inner guard at the ends of the branch passages to allow a little more free entrance for an unusually large vehicle or bulky load such, for instance, as in the movin' of a building or long, heavy pieces of tim er.

Preferably the outer removable sections 10 are formed as resilient bumpers to reduce the shock in the event that the vehicle should not'make the turn quick enough and should rim into the middle guard after it, enters the branch portion of the road. These resilient sections may be made of bars or rails of spring metal which are held in place by slotted supports 12. These bars are curved to conform to the curvature of the wall and will yieldto the impact of a car. They may be removed by sliding them through the slotted supports.

What I claim is 1. A safety highway approach'to a railway crossing comprising an enclosed area of curved contour in the middle of the big way somewhat back from the crossing an surrounded by a guard, the highway being' divided into two' branches to pass around said area, said branches merging together on the side toward the crossing, the guard having movable sections adjacent the beginning of the branching of the highway and adjacent the merger of the two branches, said movable sections being adapted to be opened a for emergency use.

- 2. A safety highway approach'to a rail- --way crossing comprising an enclosed area of portion of the driveway being resilient to form a yieldin bumper."

3. A safety ighway ap roach to a railway crossing consisting o a driveway divided into two substantially semi-circular branches at a short distance back from the crossing, the two branches being-merged together again nearer the crossing, an enclosed area surroundedby the two branches,

of the highway a guard surrounding said area and forming an .inside boundary for the jltwo branches, said guard having movable's'ections at the point where the driveway divides into the branches and adjacent the point where the 'two branches merge together, and guards bordering the outer sides of thetwo branches.

4. A safety approiich to a railway crossing consisting of a driveway which divides into two curved branches at a short distance before it reaches the crossing, said two branches mergin'g together, again at a point nearer the 'crossmg, an enclosed area between'said two branches, and a guard surrounding said area having a resilient bumper section adjacent the point where the driveway divides into two branches.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM H. BANKS. 

